Onto some policy disputes. The two front-runners, Hamos and Dan
Seals, issued sharply contrasting statements about the escalation in
Afghanistan yesterday. Like U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias,
Hamos defended the president's decision to send 30,000 additional
troops to the war-torn country, emphasizing the importance of the
deadline on which troops would begin withdrawing from the region. From
the Tribune:

"This whole speech was about, ‘How do we end this war?’" Hamos
said, adding she trusted the recommendation of military officials like
Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who requested the surge a while ago. "We
have to believe that they know what they’re doing."

Dan Seals was less sanguine about the military's prospects in
Afghanistan, suggesting that President Obama's proposal more closely
resembles "nation building" than a targeted mission:

"I think it takes us away from our core mission," said Seals, who defined the goal as targeted special forces strikes against al-Qaida fighters. He also said he doubted the stability of any Afghani government after the U.S. departure. "The fight against terrorism is going to be a long-term struggle."

The two also appeared to differ on the issue of extending the
Bush-era tax cuts on the wealthy. Seals argued that it would not be
wise to strip tax relief during a recession and Hamos suggested she may
oppose continuing the tax breaks, particularly if doing so would increase
the national debt. (It undoubtedly would.)

Lastly, both campaigns got tangled up in a strange email altercation two days ago. Capitol Fax covered the basics of the dispute yesterday, which began when candidate Elliot Richardson
issued a fundraising blast that criticized both his opponents.
Specifically, he claimed that Hamos does not live in the 10th district
(she does now), and he claimed she has a poor record on civil rights
and supporting Israel. The Hamos team then sent out this rejoinder
yesterday morning:

While Julie is releasing great news this week, one of her
opponents has resorted to outright lies to get ahead. This week, he
sent out a fundraising email to his supporters with more than a few
false claims, such as:

- Julie isn't a resident of the 10th District
- Julie isn't a strong supporter of Israel
- Julie doesn't have a record of fighting for civil rights

These blatant lies are meant to mislead the residents of the 10th, but we know better.

That the Hamos email did not cite Richardson explicitly irked the
Seals campaign, who thought their rivals were deliberately vague so as
to leave open the opportunity that voters would interpret the
"opponent" as Seals himself. Shortly thereafter, Seals issued his own
email to supporters:

Our opponents continue to spread outright lies about our
campaign. One opponent sent out a campaign e-mail on Tuesday attacking
Dan and another candidate. This other candidate then sent out an e-mail
today. We’ve now received multiple e-mails and phone calls from people
who, based on her e-mail, think that Dan made these false claims.

It is simply not true.

As we mentioned before, our opponents are bound to do anything.
It’s time to stop the “he said, she said” political pettiness. Enough
is enough already.